One of my favorite features we planned was a rock staircase. When we went out to the field to scout for rocks, Tom kept pointing out smallish flat rocks about 12-15" wide. I had in mind something a little bit bigger. So we had some trouble agreeing on what rocks to pick up.

Then we involved my dad, who happened to know just the rock pile to go to. I was pleasantly surprised—actually over the moon—when they hauled the first rock into our yard.

These big flat round rocks aren't exactly prevalent on our farm. We have plenty of big round rocks, mind you, but these we had to hunt for.

Here is the staircase after all the rocks were set:

Doesn't it rock? Here it is from the top looking down:

After we placed the big rocks, I packed in dirt and smaller rocks around them. My intent is to plant ground cover flowers for a rock garden of sorts.

And here is the view from the bottom:

I know it is hard to tell from the photos, but those top 2 rocks are gigantic. (I should have put my kids in the photo for scale—and don't you just love the farm equipment in the background? Part of the deal around here.) Hauling those rocks in from the field was no small feat, and placing them was even more difficult. What I'm trying to say is, DON'T TRY THIS AT HOME! Unless you have lots of experience with big equipment.

This video shows the process of placing the second to last rock to give you an idea of what it took. (The last rock was even bigger and more challenging!) And by the way, sorry about the video quality. I used my new Canon, but clearly I need to study up on how to take good videos. Between the shaky and choppy filming, wind noise, and nervous wife commentary, it might be a little rough to watch.)

Any guesses on how much this would cost someone to have a landscaping company do this? To source the rocks, haul them, and place them? I'm guessing thousands of dollars. Needless to say, I feel very blessed to have this cool feature in my yard. What do you think?

Pssst. There is a great little giveaway today on one of my favorite blogs, From this Front Porch. Check it out to win some super moisturizing handmade goat's milk soap!